Crash Course
by dragonwriter24cmf
Summary: An argument that ends in tragedy. When Ayame saves Yuki from being hit by a car, everything changes. Yuki discovers there's a lot he didn't know about his brother. But how can he build bridges with him? And why is Tohru so upset?
1. Chapter 1

Crash Course

**Summary: **Another visit to Ayame's shop has Yuki storming from the store in anger. But when Ayame pushes him out of the path of a drunk driver, everything changes. Consequences are felt by more than just the two brothers. Tohru struggles with traumatic memories. Kyo must put aside his animosity for Yuki and Ayame. Shigure and Hatori are worried. And Yuki discovers that there's more to his brother than he's ever realized, and that all the laughter and wildness is a mask over something far deeper than he expected. But how will any of them deal with it, when masks are laid aside and old wounds exposed? Can they find their way to peace, and build bridges, or is the damage too deeply ingrained?

**Chapter One: Tragedy Strikes **

"That's it. I...I can't do this any more." Yuki shoved the door of his brother's shop open and stepped out into the sunlight, seething.

He was tired of this. He wanted to build some sort of relationship between his brother and himself, but it felt impossible. Whenever Ayame was over at the house, he was full of wild stories, talking to Shigure or flirting with Tohru. Or annoying Kyo into shouting the roof off. Whenever he showed up at school, he threw the class and the Student Council into absolute chaos. Even the teacher didn't seem to know how to deal with him. And here at the shop...

It was just too much. No matter how hard he tried to keep calm, no matter how patient he was, invariably his brother did something that was either too crazy to deal with, or just downright rude. And his insane, off the wall, self-interested commentary didn't help. No matter what subject he tried to bring up, Ayame always seemed to turn it back to himself.

He'd had enough. He'd tried, been trying for months now, and he couldn't seem to find any sort of common ground with his elder brother. He couldn't get him to talk to him seriously either, not for more than a few seconds at a time. Not long enough for a meaningful conversation. Ayame always apologized, of course, and he always seemed sincere, but it was so hard to tell, and he certainly never changed his behavior in any way that Yuki could see.

_Enough is enough_. He'd tried, but this wasn't going anywhere, and he was tired of trying.

"Yuki?" It was the last voice he wanted to hear. "I am sorry about that. I just got caught up in the moment, you know..."

"You're always sorry. But you never change. And I for one am tired of trying to find a common ground when you're clearly not trying at all." Yuki squared his shoulders. "I'm going home. You can tell Miss Honda that I'm leaving. I hope, if she decides to stay, that you'll at least be decent enough to make sure she gets home safely."

"I...you really shouldn't leave a girl like that. It's positively ungentlemanly. Really Yuki..."

"If you're so concerned, you'd better go tell her, because I'm leaving right now." He clenched his fists, trying not to bite his lip in frustration.

"If you insist." There was an odd note in his brother's voice, his tone a little quieter than was normal for him. And he didn't say anything else. There was just the sound of the faint scuff on asphalt as Ayame turned away.

Somehow, that was even more frustrating. Yuki clenched his jaw, then stalked away from the store. He'd wait across the street for Tohru, rather than stand so close to his brother's shop.

A squeal of tires startled him from his thoughts. He looked up, just as a car careened around the corner, going too fast for a pedestrian area, and the wrong way for the street too. _What the..._

The car swerved, and he realized that the driver was out of control, and not even trying to slow down. And the car was headed straight for him.

Time seemed to slow down as the realization struck him. All his muscles tensed up to run, but he was frozen, not sure which way to jump to escape the car's erratic path. Then several things happened at once.

Tohru shouted his name, her voice high and frightened. The car swerved again, headed right for him, and the tires squealed again as the driver began to brake, far too late. Then something cannoned into him, slammed him sideways out of the vehicles path, and he went crashing to the pavement, winded, his heart still pounding as shock and adrenalin surged through him.

"Yuki! Yuki, are you all right?" Tohru was at his side before he'd even picked himself up, kneeling beside him. "Oh, you're bleeding! Your arm, and your knee...we have to stop it! And you could have broken bones or something..."

"I'm fine. Just scratches. And I had the wind knocked out of me." He'd been training in martial arts long enough to know there was nothing wrong with him that a hard fall to the mat wouldn't have caused. His arm was scraped fairly heavily, and his side ached, but nothing too serious. He blinked, remembering the force that had propelled him out of the way. "Miss Honda...what..."

"Boss! Ayame!" Mine's panicked shout startled both of them.

Tohru's eyes went to the other side of the street, and her eyes widened as she went almost chalk white. "Ayame..."

Yuki followed her gaze, and his stomach clenched. The car had stopped, and Mine was kneeling a few feet in front of it. Kneeling beside...something. It looked like a pile of discarded fabric.

Blue fabric and golden buttons. Silver strands, soaking up crimson stains as a pool of red gathered on the pavement beside one pale hand.

"Ayame!" Tohru was up like a flash, racing to Mine's side.

Yuki shoved himself to his feet and followed, feeling like his brain had frozen and lead weights had settled in his stomach. _This can't be happening. That can't be..._ He stumbled to a stop beside the two girls, and his heart stuttered in shock as unexpected pain knifed through him.

Ayame lay on his side, arms and legs flung haphazardly across the pavement. His clothing was torn in several places. The angle of his legs looked wrong somehow, and his face was bleeding from a gash over one eye, a split lip and a bloody nose. His hair was falling all over the place, the blood soaking into it. His eyes were closed, his face paler than normal, and he wasn't moving. The fingers of one hand were bent oddly, and looked broken.

Yuki stood frozen, staring at his brother's lifeless face. He didn't even hear the panicked shouts around him, as one of the other shop owners called the emergency medical services and Tohru and Mine tried to staunch the bleeding wounds.

_**Author's Note: **And from there we go...well, you'll just have to see. How do you think the other Zodiac members will react?_


	2. Chapter 2: Waiting to Move Forward

**Chapter Two: Waiting to Move Forward **

Half an hour later, Yuki found himself settled on a couch in the waiting room, staring at his hands. His mind was still struggling to process what had happened.

He and Tohru had ridden with Ayame in the ambulance, as family members. Mine had stayed behind to close up the shop and explain things to the neigbors.

Technically, Tohru wasn't family, but she'd been wild-eyed and nearly hysterical over Ayame's condition, and he'd needed something to focus on, to take his mind away from the sight of his brother's body being loaded onto a gurney. So he'd told them ambulance driver that Tohru was his adopted sister, which was almost true since Shigure had claimed her as a member of their household, and pulled her into the back of the bus with him. She'd been shaking so hard she couldn't even speak, tears streaking down her face. All he'd been able to do was take her hands, trying to comfort her. But it was a weak effort.

He was still stunned. All he'd been able to do was stare at his brother's face as the paramedics snapped an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose, and started bandaging and immobilizing him, trying to keep him as stable as possible. He'd listened to the heart monitor they'd attached, but the beeps and numbers meant nothing to him except that his brother still lived. Then they'd pulled up to the hospital and his brother had been rushed through the ER doors with a medic shouting orders, while a sympathetic young woman guided them to the waiting room and told them to stay there, that there would be news as soon as possible.

"Ayame..." Torhu's voice startled him out of his fog. She was still standing at the door to the waiting room, staring in the direction of the ER doors. She was still ice white, her eyes wide and shocked. Her hands were clasped in front of her.

"Miss Honda..." He faltered to a stop, then rose and took her shoulders. "You should probably sit down. It's going to take a while for them to find out anything, so we should wait quietly here."

"I...but...Yuki...Ayame is..." She gulped, her hands clenching in his shirt in a helpless gesture he didn't think she was even aware. "Don't we need...I mean...the curse..."

Incoherent though she was, her words jolted his brain. She was right. Ayame's curse would make everything unpredictable. Hatori at least needed to know, and probably Shigure as well.

"You're right." He pushed her back into a chair. "I need to go call Hatori. I'd appreciate it if you'd wait here, in case the doctor comes."

Tohru blinked at him, her eyes wide. "Oh...but...Ayame is your brother. I should..."

He shook his head. "Right now you're too upset. Besides, I think it will be better for Hatori to hear this sort of thing from me." He squeezed her hands. "Please, Miss Honda. Stay here and wait while I call the others."

"O...Okay." She gulped back a sob and scrubbed at her eyes. He handed her a Kleenex or two, then ducked out the doors and raced down to the lobby, to where cell phones were permitted.

He dialed Hatori first and waited for the doctor to pick up, his nerves humming with tension. As much as he'd wanted to leave the waiting room, the depressing pressure of waiting for news, now all he could think about was getting back there.

"Hello. Sohma Hatori speaking." Hatori's calm tones settled him some.

"Hatori." He swallowed hard. "My brother was in an accident."

"Yuki?" Hatori sounded surprised, then his voice returned to it's normal professional tone. "Tell me everything."

"My brother...I was at his shop, and we had an argument. I went outside, and there was a car...he shoved me out of the way and it hit him. An ambulance took him to the hospital."

"Which hospital?" Hatori still sounded calm, and it soothed him a bit.

He gave Hatori the name of the hospital. There was a brief pause, and then Hatori spoke again. "Has anyone asked you for his information yet?"

"No. Not besides his name and our relationship."

"Unusual, but they're probably tying to make sure he's stable before they do anything else. Regardless, someone will probably want his medical information as soon as possible. Generally speaking, Aya's fairly healthy, but warn them about his temperature sensitivity. Tell them it might cause respiratory arrest. And there are a few things Aya is allergic to. Are you ready?"

"Yes." He didn't have a pen or paper, but he had a good memory.

Hatori listed off four or five things. Yuki repeated them back. "Good. Give them my name as his primary physician, and tell them I'll be there shortly. And call Shigure. He's Aya's medical proxy." There was a click as Hatori hung up.

Yuki dialed Shigure's number as fast as he could hit the keys. It rang twice, and then Shigure picked up. "Yuki? This is a bit odd. I thought you were at Aya's."

"There was an accident." His throat hurt. "My brother...he got hit by a car. We're waiting for information. I called Hatori, and he's on his way here." He gave Shigure the name of the hospital.

"All right. I'll be right there." For once, there was no hint of playfulness in Shigure's tone. His voice was flat and serious. "Where's Tohru?"

"She's here, with me. I left her in the waiting room, in case the doctor comes."

"I suppose that's the best place for her. Well, I'll let you get back to her then. Try to hold yourself together until we get there." The line went dead. He was almost relieved, since he had no idea what he could have said to Shigure. He stared at his phone a moment, wondering if there was someone else to call, then shoved it back into his pocket and headed back to the waiting room.

A nurse was there when he arrived, transcribing Tohru's description of the accident. He took over, explaining what he could remember of what had happened, and passing on Hatori's information. Then the nurse left, and he sank back into the chair he'd vacated before.

Ayame was hurt. Ayame had been hit by a car, protecting him. After everything he'd said, the childish way he'd stormed out of the shop, his brother had shoved him out of the way of a moving vehicle, and in the process gotten badly hurt. Yuki swallowed against tears in his eyes and pain in his throat, and bowed his head. _Nii-san...what were you thinking?_

The next few hours were some of the longest of Yuki's life.

Hatori arrived twenty minutes after his call. He had no idea how the doctor had gotten there so fast, and he didn't care. Hatori stopped in, then called a nurse over to tend to Yuki's scrapes, which he hadn't really even noticed after realizing his brother was injured, then continued on. Yuki saw him stop at the ER doors and talk to the nurse at the desk. Whatever he said, he was joined by a man in a doctor's coat a few minutes later, and a few minutes after that, both men disappeared through the double doors. Yuki supposed that meant the other doctor had allowed Hatori to come assist with Ayame. He hoped that's what it meant, at least.

Shigure arrived forty-five minutes after that, Kyo following along behind him. Kyo went to sit next to Tohru, while Shigure went down to the nurse's station. He came back a few minutes later, looking grave. "According to the nurse, Aya's been moved into surgery. So far, he's stable."

Yuki bit his lip. "Do they know...?"

Shigure shook his head. "They weren't able to give me any details I'm afraid. We'll have to wait for Haa-san to come back out." He settled down into a chair, his eyes focusing on a vague spot on the far wall. "All we can really do for now is wait."

The minutes seemed to drag by. An hour after Shigure arrived, his cell phone rang. The writer left the room to answer it, and came back a few minutes later, looking pensive. "That was Momiji. Apparently he, Kisa, Hiro and Hatsuharu stopped by the house to visit. I told them to let Kagura know we're not home in case she stops in as well. They'll probably be here in a little while."

"Great. Just what we need, all the brats." There was a faint note of sarcasm in Kyo's voice, but it was lacking it's customary acidity.

An hour after that, there was a commotion in the hallway and Momiji burst through the door. "Shigure!"

"Momiji...I don't think it's appropriate to run in the hallways of a hospital." Shigure frowned.

"I know. But I was worried. You said Aya was hurt. Do they know how bad?" Momiji rocked on his heels, looking worried.

"Yeah. What's the diagnosis?" Hatsuharu strolled in. He glanced at Tohru and at Yuki, then back to Shigure. "We took the kids home before we came here. But Kagura will probably come later."

"That was probably wise. As for Aya's condition...well, we're still waiting to find that out. The fact that Haa-san hasn't come back out means either it's a delicate situation, or his condition is rather serious." For once, there was no laughter in Shigure's face, only sad solemnity.

Tohru made a soft choking sound, and fresh tears started down her face. "Ayame-san..."

"Tohru? Don't cry." Momiji darted over to settle on his heels in front of her. "Please don't cry. I'm sure Aya will be all right. It's probably just hard because they have to keep the temperature controlled so he doesn't transform. I'm sure he'll be all right though. Aya might seem kind of fragile sometimes, but he's really strong."

"That's true." Hatsuharu nodded as he slouched into a chair near Yuki. Normally, Yuki would have been wary of how near the other boy was sitting, but he felt numb, his mind clouded.

Tohru hiccuped. "But...Ayame...he's hurt...and I didn't even...I should have warned him...I hadn't even said goodbye properly..." Shigure stiffened, his gaze sharpening with concern. Tohru scrubbed her hand over her eyes. "I should have...if I'd gotten to him sooner...if I'd shouted a warning sooner for Yuki...maybe...maybe..."

Kyo sat up straight, staring at Tohru. Then he shoved himself to his feet and took her shoulder. "Come on. We're going home. You don't need to stay in this place."

Tohru blinked at him. "But...I have to stay...for Ayame-san...and Yuki-san."

Kyo huffed. "The rat's got Hatsuharu and Shigure watching him. And you heard Momiji. Anyway, I swear, that snake guy's kind of like a cockroach. He's impossible to kill. You saw how Yuki threw him the lake that one time, and I'm always beating him up for being an idiot. If that doesn't kill him, then a little thing like this is barely going to slow him down."

"But I...I couldn't go...I mean...what if something happens...what if...what if Ayame-san..." She choked on a soft sob and sniffled into her sleeve. "If he dies...and I'm not here for him...I would feel...that would be terrible..."

"Tohru." Shigure rose and walked over to her side. He handed her a handkerchief, then cupped her face with one hand. "Kyo is right. You should go home."

"But I..." Tohru sniffled again.

Shigure put a finger over her mouth. "If Aya's condition were that serious, Hatori would have already come to tell us. Momiji's probably right, it's most likely difficult to operate on Aya when he's so sensitive to temperature, especially since that sensitivity increases if he's injured or sick. I'm sure we'll get an update from Hatori soon. In the meantime, there's plenty of us waiting here, so you should go home with Kyo and rest. After all, this has been a pretty rough day for you."

Tohru swallowed. "But...if something happens..."

"If something happens, I'll call the house or Kyo's cell phone immediately. I promise." Shigure's smile was gentle. "On the other hand, you really can't do anything here, Tohru-kun, but there is something important you can do at home."

Tohru stared at him. "What..."

"It might take a while for everything to settle. And I for one would like the chance at a good hot meal when it does. Besides...I don't know when Aya will be able to come home, but I'm sure your delicious cooking will make him feel better when that time comes. And Hatori will need a good meal as well, after working so hard. So...let Kyo take you home, and if you need to do something for Aya, why don't you start making something for us to eat, so we can all take care of him properly, okay?"

Tohru swallowed another sob, then nodded. "Okay..." She stood up, swaying a little, and Kyo and Momiji steadied her. "Okay...I can...I can make it..."

"That's the spirit." Shigure patted her shoulder, then turned a serious gaze to Kyo. "I'm counting on you to take good care of her. And please...do try to be more sensitive than your usual complete lack of tact."

"You don't gotta tell me that." Kyo grimaced, then tugged Tohru toward the door. "Come on. Let's go already."

"I'm...coming." Tohru sniffled one more time, then went with him.

Hatsuharu made a soft huff of approval. "I'm surprised. Kyo did really well there. I didn't think he'd even notice."

"Yes well, he has learned a few things." Shigure returned to his chair.

"Yeah." Hatsuharu leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "So...Yuki...are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I just got a few scrapes, that's all." His left side ached, he realized. The side where Ayame had hit him.

"Well, I can't figure Hatori for leaving you alone if that weren't the case, but that isn't exactly what I meant you know. How are you holding up with all of this?"

Yuki winced, then clenched his hands together. "I'm not sure. I mean, we've never really gotten close, and we argue all the time. In fact, this all happened because I got angry at him and stormed out of his shop. But...in spite of that...he didn't hesitate to push me out of the way of the car. It was coming right at me, but the driver was swerving, and I froze. And he pushed me out of the way. And now this. I can't really tell how I feel. It all feels really mixed up."

"That's not really surprising, I suppose. Especially since we don't know how serious Aya's condition really is." Shigure sighed. "I suppose all we can do is keep waiting."

"Yeah. No kidding." Hatsu haru slouched back in his seat, and silence descended on the waiting room again.

Yuki watched as the sun sank lower in the sky, as the minutes ticked past. It was almost unbearable, but he couldn't leave.

Finally, the double doors at the far end of the hall whooshed open, and a familiar figure appeared. Yuki leaped to his feet as Hatori came forward. "How is he?"

Hatori sighed. "He's stable and out of danger. That being said, his condition is rather serious." He shook off the coat and handed it to a nurse who threw it in a laundry bin, then entered the room and sat on one of the remaining chairs. His expression was tired. "The vehicle wasn't going too fast when it hit him, but it still did a great deal of damage."

"How serious is it?"

Hatori sighed again. "Both legs were fractured below the knee, where the car actually hit him. But he also broke one hand, wrenched his shoulder, and struck his head when he impacted the pavement. At the moment he has a cast on both legs, and his right hand, as well as bandages on his ribs. They didn't break, but he was bruised quite badly. Also, he has a moderate concussion. There's no serious swelling inside his brain, but he was badly shaken, and it'll probably make him dizzy and nauseous for a few days. At the moment, we've got him on some fairly strong painkillers. The doctor says he'll prescribe something more when Aya leaves the hospital."

Shigure frowned. "How long are they planning on keeping him?"

Hatori frowned. "At least until tomorrow. Possibly the day after that. After that, however, if there are no complications, they'll release Aya into my care. Unfortunately, that poses a bit of a problem." He ran a hand through his dark hair.

"It does. I'm assuming, with that list of injuries, Aya can't be left alone." Shigure grimaced.

"No. He can't. He won't be capable of taking care of himself properly for at least a month. And he'll have to be watched continuously for signs of more damage from that head injury for at least a week. Which is why we can't take him to his house. Even if he could be left alone, with those leg injuries, he'd never make it up the stairs."

Yuki blinked. "Stairs?"

Shigure sighed. "Aya lives above the shop. It reduces the risk of anything happening to him on the way to work. Plus, he likes not having to commute. But the stairs to get to his rooms are fairly narrow, and his apartment isn't really equipped to deal with this kind of problem."

"He should have a home at the main house, shouldn't he? And if he's there, then the servants could take care of him, right?" Hatsuharu leaned forward.

Shigure shook his head. "Aya does have a house. Unfortunately, his parents currently live there. Akito let them move in a while ago. And I know Aya doesn't really get along with either of his parents. Besides, even if we ignore that...it's not a good idea for Aya to reside at the main house."

"Why?" Yuki felt his chest tightening.

"Because Aya and Akito had a falling out a few years ago. And there are other concerns. For that reason, it's also inadvisable for Aya to come to stay with me, either in my clinic or in my home." Hatori shook his head and leaned back against the wall behind his chair.

"Aya and Akito had a falling out? I didn't know about that." Momiji frowned. "But what would Aya and Akito fight about? They usually seem okay when Aya comes by the main house."

"That's because Aya only comes for major events like New Years, or by special invitation." Shigure exhaled, a rough short breath.

"But why?" Yuki frowned.

"That's...well, it's really Aya's business, but I suppose you ought to know." Shigure grimaced. "A few years ago, Aya started taking an interest in you. And when he found out what Akito was doing, how you were being treated...well, he didn't take it well."

Hatori huffed. "That's putting it mildly. He went into a kind of shock, and then...that's one of the few times I've ever seen Ayame get truly angry. The only time he came close to losing his temper like that was when Kana left."

"He...got mad?" Yuki felt his stomach clench.

"Pretty much. He's pretty careful to control himself around you, but you'd be surprised how sharp Aya can be when he's upset. Of course, there wasn't much he could do, given the situation. In the end, the only thing he could do was leave the main house, before something irrevocable happened. Since he was already renting the building for the shop back then, he just took over the apartments above it. After that, things calmed down, until about two years ago." Shigure smiled, but it was a cold, humorless smile.

"Two...years ago?" Yuki felt like the world was spinning out of control.

"When you decided you wanted to leave the main house, and defy Akito. He wasn't planning to let you go at first, not even into my care. But then Aya...well, I told Aya what was happening, because he asked me to keep an eye on you, and Aya went to the main house and confronted your parents and Akito. I don't know what they said, but...well, Akito released you into my care, as you know. Ayame didn't tell me what happened beyond that."

"Akito cut him off from the family support funds." Hatori's voice was quiet. "He's lucky his shop was doing as well as it was. Fortunately, despite appearances and attitude, Aya has a good head for marketing and finances. He learned a lot as Student Council president, even if he didn't seem to pay that much attention. He was able to maintain himself. Though I did help him out with a few things." Hatori glanced at Shigure. "He didn't want to tell you, for fear you'd worry too much. And he didn't want Yuki to overhear."

Shigure scowled, then sat back with a sigh. "Well, I suppose I can understand that. After all, he did forbid me to say anything as well."

"Why? Why didn't he ever mention anything?" Yuki clenched his hands in front of him. All this time...he'd know his brother came to check on him at times, and visited. Why hadn't Ayame told him about this? Why hadn't he known?

"Because he didn't want you feeling indebted to him." Hatori's quiet voice cut through his thoughts.

Shigure nodded. "He didn't want you to feel like you owed him anything. Or that he was trying to buy your attention. Aya's many things, but that's not the type of person he is, or the type of relationship he likes to form. He wanted any bonds he could manage to form with you to be normal and mutual, rather than you feeling like he'd done you a favor. He wanted to get to know you, and for you to get to know him, without anything like that in the way."

"I see." Yuki swallowed hard.

Nothing in the way. He would have felt indebted, had he known his older brother had been helping him. The years before he'd come to Shigure had been horrible. He still had mixed feelings about Hatsuharu, who'd tried to help him through some of the worst of it. If he'd known that Ayame was fighting for him, there were times he knew he'd have thrown himself at his brother's feet and begged for help, at any cost.

Another thought occurred to him, and he voiced it without thinking. "If he was so concerned, why didn't he take me with him?"

"Akito wouldn't let him." A somewhat pained smile tugged at one corner of Shigure's mouth. "Besides...Aya...well, I could tell you his reasons, but they might not make much sense, and they're rather personal anyway. But one of them was that he wasn't sure he'd be able to take proper care of you. Working long hours in the shop has it's down-side, and he can be a little absentminded at times. I think he was afraid he'd neglect you."

"He was." Hatori sighed. "When he left the main house, his business was still starting out, and he hadn't yet reached the point where he could hire an assistant. He was working some 12-14 hours a day, and he was usually fairly tired after work. He wouldn't have been able to take proper care of another person."

"Oh." Fourteen hours a day. Just the thought of it sounded exhausting.

Hatori huffed again, as if he was exhaling from one of his cigarettes. "In any case, the question still remains: What should we do with him once he gets out of the hospital. I know that his assistant is capable of managing the shop, but we still have to figure out who will look after Ayame."

Shigure nodded. "I can take care of him most of the time, and you know Tohru will want to help. The only problem is where we'd put him. My room isn't really suited for guests, although it is an option if we can get it cleaned up."

"That's a possibility, but you'd have to keep a reasonable schedule while he's there. No staying up till 3 am and wandering around at all hours of the night. You can't disturb him too much." Hatori fixed Shigure with a level stare, and the writer winced.

"Well, the living room and my office aren't any better, nor is the dining area."

"Can we put him in my room?" The words seemed to escape from him of their own accord. "I know it's on the second floor, but I'm a lot quieter than Shigure, and my routine is more structured."

All three of the others blinked at him, startled, and he fought the urge to blush.

"That's a possibility, I suppose. But you do know, you'll have to put up with him being there for at least a month. And given his condition, he'll need the bed, which means you'll be sleeping on a futon on the floor. And you'll have almost no privacy, between Aya's presence and everyone coming in to check on him or take care of him." Shigure's gaze was serious.

Hatori nodded. "Shigure is right. Those are all factors you have to take into account. And once Aya is settled, he can't be moved too much. He needs time to heal. If you agree to this, you won't have the option of changing your mind later, not until he's well enough to move on his own."

Yuki bit his lip. Ayame...in his room for at least a month.

He didn't mind having visitors in and out. Kyo never bothered, but Tohru and Shigure were frequent visitors to his room. Hatsuharu came in sometimes, and so did Momiji. Even Kisa had invaded his room on occasion. But he always locked the door when his brother came.

But Ayame was his brother. And he was hurt. And he'd apparently been trying far harder than he'd ever realized. He remembered the way he'd cut his brother off, just before the accident, and his stomach twisted in guilt. Maybe he was the one who hadn't been trying hard enough.

And in the end, it didn't matter. His brother needed him. And as much as he was exasperated by the man sometimes, he couldn't bring himself to abandon his brother. "I think...I think I'm okay with it. I mean, if it's what's best for him, then it's fine. I can manage with a futon, and I'm used to having visitors. I can even...well, I'm not very good at taking care of people, but I can try to help him some."

"You do realize, Aya will need help with everything, including simple things like going to the bathroom or changing clothes."

Yuki nodded. "I think I can do that. I'm not very experienced, but I can wheel a chair if we can get it in the hall, and I'm pretty strong. I can probably carry him."

"You'll also have to keep the temperature very carefully regulated. If Ayame transforms in this state, he'll probably hurt himself, perhaps fatally."

Shigure smiled. "That's actually the least of our worries. Yuki tends to keep the temperature pretty steady. I've got the house set on a temperature that should be comfortable for Aya, and Yuki's the one who opens his windows the least. Kyo couldn't be relied on, but I think he's pretty safe in Yuki's room."

Hatori nodded. "All right then." He met Yuki's gaze. "You're sure you want to do this?"

"I am." Yuki nodded.

Hatori returned the nod, then rose to his feet. "In that case, it appears I'll need to give you some instructions on how to handle Ayame's care. And we need to start making preparations for him now."

Shigure rose to his feet as well, and Yuki and Hatsuharu both jumped up from their chairs. Shigure smiled. "All right then, let's go."


End file.
